Bar charts: what you need to know and how to use them

Bar charts are one of the most used chart types along the line and candlestick charts. It is widely used in the industry due to its simplicity and clarity. It provides traders with clear visualization of the open, close, high, and low prices over a specified timeframe, helping them easily identify these key levels.

Each bar consists of a vertical line, commonly referred to as the "range": it represents the price range of an asset, with the top indicating the highest price at which a trade occurred and the bottom showing the lowest price.

The horizontal lines to the left and right of the vertical line represent the open and close prices, respectively. These are usually determined through auctions, which are commonly used by major exchanges.

Enabling the chart type

Once you are on the Supercharts, open the chart type menu on the upper toolbar and select Bars.

Settings

To make the most of the bar chart, you can customize it according to your preferences and needs. For that, choose Settings on the upper toolbar and go to the Symbol tab.

The first section, Bars, lists settings specific to the chart type:

1. Color bars based on previous close. With this setting on, the color of each bar will be determined by whether its close price is higher (green) or lower (red) than the close price of the previous bar, rather than by the bar's own open and close prices.
2. HLC bars. This option disables the open price "foot," so only high, low, and close prices are shown.
3. Up color / Down color. Colors of up and down bars can be set according to your preferences. The default color scheme is green for upward movement (indicating that the close price of the current bar is higher than its open price) and red for downward movement (indicating that the close price is lower than the open price).
4. Thin bars. Allows you to adjust the thickness of the bars for better visibility.